Topic starter
10/07/2026 9:25 pm
TL;DR: PAM best practices now extend beyond admin accounts to service accounts, API keys, third-party access and CI/CD identities, because many incidents begin in unclassified privileged credentials; Soffid’s article argues for visibility, JIT access, session control and automation. The real governance test is whether privileged access can be reviewed, rotated and revoked fast enough to matter.
Editorial analysis by NHI Mgmt Group, based on content published by Soffid: “PAM best practices: cómo proteger cuentas críticas sin fricción”.
Key questions
Q: How should security teams audit privileged access across human and non-human identities?
A: They should start with a complete privileged identity inventory that includes administrators, service accounts, API keys, certificates, pipeline credentials, and vendor accounts.
Q: Why do standing privileged credentials create more exposure than just-in-time access?
A: Standing privileged credentials create exposure because they expand the time window in which an account can be abused, especially if an attacker or insider gains access.
Q: What signs show that PAM controls are not working properly?
A: Frequent exceptions, long-lived admin accounts, missing session logs, and access that remains unchanged after role or ownership changes all point to weak PAM governance.
Practitioner guidance
- Define the privileged identity inventory Classify administrative, service, application, shared, third-party, API key and CI/CD identities as part of the privileged estate, then assign an owner to each one.
- Replace standing access with just-in-time elevation Use approval-backed, time-limited access for critical tasks so privilege exists only for the session or task that requires it.
- Automate credential rotation after use Rotate privileged passwords and secrets automatically after each use and keep the secret value hidden from the end user.
Bottom line: Critical account governance fails when organisations treat privileged access as an admin-only problem instead of an estate-wide one.
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10/07/2026 9:48 pm
Privileged access is now a lifecycle problem, not just an access problem. The article is correct to extend PAM beyond administrator credentials because critical exposure increasingly sits in service accounts, application accounts, third-party access and CI/CD identities. That makes inventory and ownership the first governance issue, not a secondary reporting task. The practitioner conclusion is simple: if you cannot name the privileged identity, you cannot govern it.
A few things that frame the scale:
- Only 36% of health IT leaders say their organisation applies a privileged access strategy consistently across the enterprise, according to Ponemon Institute research.
A question worth separating out:
Q: What should organisations do when PAM and IGA are disconnected?
A: Treat the disconnect as a governance gap, not just a tooling issue. PAM handles secure elevation and session control, while IGA governs ownership, approvals and lifecycle changes. If the two are separate, revocation and recertification will lag behind actual access changes, which is where drift accumulates.
👉 Read our full editorial: PAM best practices for critical accounts without operational drag